What would happen if... Electric vehicles question

[MajorProblem]

Ok, let's say some super scientist invents some fancy battery that means we are pretty much converted to electric cars over night.

Ignoring lorries and other large vehicles 90% of people have gone electric.

There is very little VED being paid,

There is very little fuel tax being paid,

What would the government do to get around this?

[Fort Jefferson]

Change all the rules.

[otolith]

Road charging, smart meters or tiered domestic electricity taxation.

[SturdyHSV]

The national grid would collapse in a heap and we'd all be left without power or transport?

[MajorProblem]

I can't imagine electricity could be "charged" haha at higher rate. surely it would be way to easy to get around.

GPS based road charging?

[anonymous-user]

90% of transport can't go 'lecy without the generation infrastructure needing a massive upgrade! And while it does, the Gov will just work out another way to take your money istead.....


(there is currently about enough overnight excess energy to charge around 8M 30kW EV's, unfortunately there are 50M cars on our roads...)

[otolith]

MajorProblem said:

I can't imagine electricity could be "charged" haha at higher rate. surely it would be way to easy to get around.

Depends how it is done. The quick and dirty solution, which needs no investment in infrastructure, is to tier electricity taxation by consumption, perhaps with some allowance for the number of occupants.

[Troubleatmill]

If Government expenditure is greater than it's income, then it will have to
a/ Borrow
b/ Raise income
c/ Cut expenditure.

You cannot borrow indefinitely.
I just wish Brown, Balls, Milliband understood that for every £3 the took in taxes - they spent £4. Over 10 years.